BYOR Dinner DateOrganiser: PaulusHNumber of Entrants: 25 playersUsing a 5x5 windmill setupNeeds 5x5=25 individual players and some reserves each bringing a personal game settingFirst games to start on 4 July

Cosa NostraOrganiser: skepticCSNumber of Entrants: 32 playersStarts with two teams of 16 players, each battle it out to secure their place a mafia family hierarchy, then boss and underboss of each family fight to determine which don will claim the title of capo di tutti capi. First four rounds are standard, last round is doubles.

Here are how some of the currently ongoing tournaments are progressing. Just click the title to visit the thread. Want your tournament listed here? Use the form at the end of this letter, and PM it to Gozar or post it in this thread.

Isle Cruise using a 7x7 windmill setupOrganiser Name: PaulusHAfter a visit of 50 days everybody left Australia Planned end date: 6 September

Mac Dinner Date using a 5x5 windmill setupOrganiser: PaulusHusing a 5x5 windmill setupThe last car still can't find the way home; they are driving more then 4 month now Planned end date: 5 September

Double Iron Bar Using a 3x3 windmill setupOrganiser: PaulusHUsing a 3x3 windmill setupAt least the cola must be good, people drink it a lotPlanned end date: 21 August

This week we had the opportunity to interview PaulusH. All questions were submitted by readers of the newsletter. Next week, we check in with foundry fellow and tournament dabbler, MrBenn.You can submit your questions in this thread.

Now, on with the interview!

Q: Hello, PaulusH.

A: Hi Gozar

Q: What makes you interview worthy?

A: It might show how to set up a nice business at CC

Q: How did you find this website?

A: JvdH did show it to me.

Q: Why did you join CC?

A: JvdH also asked me to join.

Q: Whats your motivation (or why do you like) to play on CC?

A: Good games are nice

Q: Why did you start to play tournaments?

A: Basically to see what it was, how it works and above all if it would be fun as well.

Q: What made you want to start running tournaments?

A: O, eh, sorry but basically I am running a travel agency which has its own restaurant and bar. Sometimes I run a song contest.

Q: How long have you been organizing tournaments?

A: At building up my business I firstly opened my restaurant on 11 June last year.

Q: What tournament did you first run?

A: I started with serving a Crazy Dinner Date. Since it was virtual and you date with 5 people at the same moment I thought it must be crazy, but now it is standard.

Q: Who do you look to for inspiration when organizing your tournaments?

A: In fact nobody specific, but there are many good organizers at CC.

Q: Please explain the "Windmill" system

A: A windmill is an old technical tool repeating to do the same thing in a structural way. Here I use it to distributes my customers over tables or (in groups) in such a way that each customer will meet everybody else exactly one time.

Q: and how did you come up with it?

A: In fact I looked for simple multi-player competition, but didn’t find it. So I tried to make it myself. In fact it was that simple that I thought somebody else should have used it before, so I searched again in many tournaments but still didn’t find it.

Q: Why do you enjoy using it?

A: Because it is simple, but still it is also a complete competition. Some might call it a half competition since you meet everybody else once. So it is simple, but for winning you still have to be better (or more lucky) then all the others.

There are in total 30 games in a complete 5-player competition of 25 people, 6 games each. Much faster then a 1v1 competition

Q: Do you have a specific software application / excel spreadsheet that you apply to use it?

A: I simply use excel, but show only a part of the table I use for it.

Q: Would you mind sharing with us?

A: No, I don’t mind sharing it. It is real simple. You start with a prime number, so 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, … For a complete windmill you need the square number of players or teams to participate (that’s where the 2x2, 3x3, 5x5 etc stands for). You need one more round then the number you picked (or in the way I use them 4 drinks for the 3x3; 6 dishes for the 5x5; 8 city’s/isles for the 7x7). Furthermore you need the game-set up and the scoring, but I expect more questions about this.

Q: Tell me more about the windmill system.

A: A 6x6 windmill is not a real windmill it is just a 7x7 windmill which is partly broken down and after that the remaining parts are rebuild again. Basically you can easily break down every windmill by one.A: A 2x2 windmill is most simple. Suppose 4 people (or teams) enter which coincidental have the names A1, A2, B1 and B2. You need 3 game-settings. For the first game-setting you let play A1 against B1 and A2 against B2, for the second game setting you shift the B’s by one and the one that remains at the bottom you shift back in at the top. So second A1 against B2 and A2 against B1. As last setting you transpose the matrix so you get A1 against A2 and B1 against B2. Finish. Simple.A: Any PxP windmill. By coincidence customers have names A1,A2,A3, A4, ….. Ap, B1,B2, ….Bp, C1,C2, …. Cp, ……………. . You need P+1 game-settings. For the first game-setting you let play in one game A1, B1, C1, … in the next game A2, B2, C2, ….. …. and the last game Ap, Bp, Cp, … . For the second game setting you shift the B’s by one, the C’s by two, the D’s by three, etc. The ones that drop out at the bottom are shifted back in at the top. So for the second game-setting you let play in one game A1, Bp, Cp-1, …, in the next game A2, B1, Cp, …., in the next game A3, B2, C1, … and in the last game Ap, Bp-1, Cp-2, …. . For the third game setting you shift the B’s one more, the C’s two more, the D’s three more, etc. Again shift back in from the top the ones that drop out at the bottom. So for the third game-setting you let play A1, Bp-1, Cp-3, …, next game A2, Bp, Cp-2, …, next game A3, B1, Cp-1, …, and in the last game Ap, Bp-2, Cp-4, … . In fact you keep the windmill turning the people around until you are back to your original set of games. At that moment you have had P game settings and for the last one you transpose the matrix, so you get A1,A2, … in a game, B1,B2,… in a game etc. Finish. In case you understand it is in fact still simple.A: You like to get another example. Ok the 3x3 windmill.First game-setting:

1st game: A1, B1, C1

2nd game: A2, B2, C2

3rd game: A3, B3, C3

Second game-setting (shift B down one and C down two):

1st game: A1, B3, C2

2nd game: A2, B1, C3

3rd game: A3, B2, C1

Third game-setting (shift B one further down and C two):

1st game: A1, B2, C3

2nd game: A2, B3, C1

3rd game: A3, B1, C2

Last game-setting (transpose):

1st game: A1, A2, A3

2nd game: B1, B2, B3

3rd game: C1, C2, C3

Finish. Still simple.

Q: How do you keep track of who plays with who for your tournaments? (Since they are windmill)

A: That is simply in the part of the excel table that I don’t show. I give the customers the feeling that I make it shortly before each game start, but in reality I make the complete game set up before the very first game. I try to give the impression that something like that is very complicated, but the only thing I do is look to the CC-score for each person and sort people on that, by which the complete set up is finished.

Q: I still don't understand the logic in the points in your tourney. So if the winner's partner gets taken out first why don't they receive 21+5 instead of 21+17?

A: That is a good question. I hope somebody would try it in the other way. The reason I took a winner’s team is because in a team-game you enter as a team and play as a team. Also for CC when my partner wins a team-game I still get CC-points, in that way I thought that my system would be inline with the intention of CC. Btw I always put in the complete scoring system for windmills in post3, it gives the nice possibility that you can mix nearly everything.

Q: Describe the experience of your first tournament ran, and first played in.

A: The first tournament I joined was a 1v1, going to a next round was for a large part luck. Although I passed 3 rounds it made clear to me that I would not start with 1v1 tourney’s.

Q: Tell us about your overall tournament experience from when you first joined a tournament to the present day. How has it changed for you? Is it a better experience than before? Worse?

A: I try to find new tournament set-ups that are open for freemium and like to join tournaments of which I expect that they will be abandoned or canceled. Strange enough I like that because it shows that my business is running better. Often there are some crazy ideas in it, participating will learn me why it doesn’t work and give me time to think about how I should change it to use it for my own business.

Q: How many tournaments have you run already, and do you have a goal in mind for how many you want to run in total before you "retire"? How many are you running right now?

A: O, eh, sorry but basically I am running a travel agency which has its own restaurant and bar. Sometimes I run a song contest. I will retire after I have earned enough for the rest of my life.

Q: What tournaments have you organized?

A: At the bar I always use a 3x3 windmill. Unfortunately my first bar burned down at the opening, but we rebuild it in Iron of which the re-opening has started shortly before:

A: Lord of the ring quads, because it was abandoned after the first game.

Q: Do you prefer to run or enter tournaments?

A: I prefer to organize.

Q: Is there a specific type of format that you tend to gravitate towards? Why? Is there a format that is your favourite? What about other peoples' tournaments?

A: I like to use a windmill format, because they are simple and a complete multi-player competition. I use it often in a mixed style. About other peoples' tournaments I hope some will use a windmill as well soon.

For a small 1v1 bracket you need 16 people and 15 games; for a double 3x3 windmill you need 18 people and 12 games.

Q: Are you selective about which types of tournaments you join or do you join just about everything you can fit into your personal game load? If you are selective, do you look for certain styles or organizers?

A: After my 1st tournament I decided not to join a simple 1v1 tourney anymore. Second I joined a 2v2, after that I only tried strange set-ups or related to one of mine.

Q: Do you find it easier to choose tournament settings yourself, or to let the players customize them?

A: Mostly I choose them myself, because I make more stupid choices then most players would do (like a 7 player assassin on Waterloo )

Q: Overall, are you playing a lot in tournaments? If not, then why and where do you find your games to play?

A: As freemium my game load is very limited and part of it I use to make my own business more interesting Actually I don’t join much tournaments since I would still like to discover what kind of combinations of settings play best and which play worst on each map.

Q: How excited where you with your first CC win?

A: I don’t remember, I enjoy mostly the development of a game being able to predict behaviour of other player, but also enjoy it when I misinterpret it. To me that is fun, sometimes I am right and able to win, but in fact the winning is not so important.

Q: Of your goals, in regards to CC, have you gotten done you've wanted to achieve?

A: The only goal for me is having fun. All kind of other goals are for school or work or whatever

Q: If you had to win one tournament that you are currently a part of which would it be and why?

A: Grand Slam Double for three reasons: first because it is the only tournament in which I participate at the moment (together with JvdH); secondly because I am in that tournament for over a year now and third because we couldn’t win from Silver 2 and fantanyser while they beat us 3 times but can’t win the tournament anymore.

Q: What is your most disappointing tournament loss to date?

A: That was in One Shot One Kill, were the number of needed rounds would be the key to enter the next round. From my game-model it was clear which round that should be, so I killed several people without being able to win that game but could keep the overall number of rounds low. After the game was finished the organizer did change the tournament rules in such a way that I didn't continue to the next round and killmanic did give me a low rating.

Q: In your mind, what makes a successful tournament?

A: Tournaments in which the participants or in my case customers have fun.

Q: What do you consider to be the most successful tournaments you've seen run?

A: I don’t follow that many tournaments, but according to the fun-rule I also can see abandoned tournaments as successful in discovering how people can struggle to get something impossible running, but in the end are not able to finish it.

Q: Have you ever been disappointed in a tournament you have run? What about one you entered?

A: Once I tried to set-up a puzzle magazine, but too little customers were willing to buy; most likely it became too complicated. In fact I was not disappointed with that it was more something I learned from. So One Shot One Kill stay the only one in which I was disappointed.

Q: What makes a successful organizer?

A: Simply good organized with clear rules and a feeling for the fun-factor of his or her customers.

Q: How do you attract players to your tournament, and what aspect (besides a reward of a premium prize or something like that) of a tournament do you think appeals to a lot of players and why?

A: I don’t really know. A good story ? A good format ? Giving at the start the information when it will be finished ? Using only multiplayer games ?I always put a lot of advertisements in the tournament newsletter in the hope it helps.

Q: Is there anything in particular that you dislike about tournament organizing?

A: No

Q: For you, what is the best part of being a tournament organizer?

A: Solving the problems customers make. Like not joining a game after I invited them; or people who are each others foe or people joining the wrong team or wrong game or … . It feels like a victory to get it solved. Another fun part for me is that those things put my predictions about needed time under pressure.

Q: What mistakes do you see tournament organizers make the most?

A: Underestimating what is needed to be able to run a tournament. In fact it is rather simple, but you have to have the right spirit and idea about it. Otherwise you have a good idea, a good plan, etc; but still get frustrated by the behaviour of your customers.

Q: With experience comes the wisdom of knowing what mistakes you've made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. What mistakes have you made in your tournaments that you are sure to avoid in future tournaments?

A: As far as I know I have not made real mistakes and could correct small ones. The only mistake was the too complicated puzzle set-up, which was corrected by stopping it after a week or two in which only two teams joined.

Q: What is your opinion on organizer neutrality? Should organizers be allowed to place themselves against their own clanmates in tournaments? Should organizers be allowed to join their own tournaments at all?

A: That is up to the organizer. I only joined one of my tournaments (oops wrong word), but that was because one specific position in that tournament was worse compared to all other positions. Staying out of my tournaments gives me the possibility to put in special tricks or if needed baby-sit for some people.

Q: Do you use a "schedule" for updating your tournaments, or do you just wait until they need an update?

A: Basically I update daily, but sometimes I skip a day or two. When I am on a trip myself I simply skip a longer period, with some good planning that was every time possible up to now (since I started I have been out 4 times).

Q: Should “new recruits” be allowed to join tournaments?

A: I will let them in, but try to get an extra reserve as well sooupy was rather new when he entered my first Dinner Date, but in the end he won.

Q: Do you feel it is better to give a bye to players whose opponents deadbeats the tournament, or to use a reserve?

A: I don’t do 1v1 tourney’s; a bye is never an option for me; when I run out of reserves the song contest can come on hold.

Q: If you could change one thing about Conquer Club in general, what would it be?

A: A lot more game-setting options, basically for everything. There are so many good possibilities for this, some examples:

number of players: random (you don’t see who is in and at the start discover the number of players)

game type: split (each person has two groups to control, in the odd turn groupA in the even turn groupB. It works as in a doubles game, in which you play both persons of one team)

map: in fact the only setting that gets enough updates.

play order: Random: (in fact sequential, but each round the play order will be randomised again; being last in the first round, you might be first in the second round)

spoils: single (you get an auto-deploy of 4,6 or 8 on the region of the spoil)

reinforcements: none (you can move troops at attack, but not afterwards)

fog: heavy (you only see your own regions and the troops on it)

round length: 40 in 2 (your total personal time is two hours for each 40 rounds)

joinability: clan (for clan games)

I limited it to one setting per option, but also other things like “no dice” could be fun with specific further conditions (game stops in case there has been no region change for the last 10 rounds).

Q: If there was something that the Conquer Club administrators could implement into the game to make tournaments easier to manage, what would it be? Similarly, is there anything you would like to see taken away from Conquer Club to make running tournaments easier?

Q: Is there anything that you would recommend to encourage new tournament organizers?

A: Keep the fun in it. In case a customer is doing something strange laugh about it and if needed make it his or her problem.

Q: List your top 5 biggest tournament headache's to this point

A: Sorry only 2: 1) Make nice stories, use a non-standard format, explain it clearly and tell all those things in a few words.2) Get enough people into the tournament in time.

Q:How much time does CC take from your day? What does that say about the rest of your life ?

A: It takes too much time from my day and that says too much about the rest of my life.

Q: Are you a member of any clans or usergroups?

A: I am a member of the TO-usergroup, but would like to get an invite of a nice clan that could use a freemium (please explain why that clan could be nice for me).

Q: Who are you?

A: Most people know me as Paulus

Q: Why did you pick the name PaulusH?

A: Because Paulus was already taken by somebody else. The H is from my last name.

Q: What is the difference between reality and fiction ?

A: Fiction has to make sense.

Q: Are you on crack? Must be some good stuff!

A: Everybody can buy and use soft-drugs in a coffee shop legally here. I don’t need it; I have a twisted mind of myself and that is real good stuff

Q:Your avatar is pretty cool, where did you find it? Did you make it yourself?

A: In fact I took it from a semi-public location and changed it a little to make it my avatar.

Q: I know I personally like to play pretty much any game: from Euchre to Titan and back again.Are there other games you enjoy? Which ones and why?

A: For strategic 1v1 games I like chess, abalone, zertz, kahuna, etc. For multiplayer strategic games I like monopoly, conquer club, colonists of Catan, bridge, risk, bridges of Shangrila, Formula De, etc.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I am from the Netherlands, (but not from Holland which is only a part of the Netherlands).

Q: Favourite play colour?

A: Stupid question: I am Dutch so it must be Orange.

Q: Favourite and least favourite map?

A: I haven’t played them all yet, but Waterloo was nice.

Q: Favourite settings?

A: no dice in combination with single spoils

Q: Freestyle or sequential?

A: I prefer sequential, but play both.

Q: Any tournaments planned for the future? What are they?

A: I have already planned the “Blind Dinner Date”, but that has to wait until most of the earlier group left the restaurant. The same holds for the “North Sea Cruise” I first need to get my employees back.

Q: How does it feel to be interviewed?

A: Nice, but more work then expected.

Q: Who were the snowdens of yesteryear?

A: New balls please.

Q: Any parting shots?

A: Hm all those questions about tournaments did give me a good idea I might start a real game-tournament in the near future. I was thinking to do that at my bar (and in the meanwhile serve some drinks).

If you want your tournament included in a future issue, please PM Gozar using this form or visit this thread!:

----------------FORM-------------------Status of tournamentTournament Name(with link please)Organiser: [Your name with 'player' tag]Brief Description(If recruiting) Approx. number of players needed(If Ongoing) Approx. number of games remaining/percentage complete---------------FORM---------------------

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